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“Is this before or after he apologizes for being an asshole?” Gabriella asked.
“Probably after, but no promises,” Hawk said.
“Great,” she said.
“I could ask him to do it, but I’m guessing you want it to come from him. And it will. He still cares about you, Ella. Will always care about you. That’s why he was so freaked this morning. You think he acts that way when there’s a breach with any other client?”
“I don’t know,” she said.
“The answer is no. He gets pissed at the men if they drop the ball, pissed at himself if there’s a hole in the protocol. He doesn’t insult the client.”
“I hope you’re not insinuating I should be flattered,” she said.
“Not at all. You said it was personal. It is, and that’s mostly a good thing. He cares enough to pull out all the stops for you and Leo. That’s not nothing,” Hawk said. “Just work with me a little.”
She bit her lip. “Fine. I’ll wait like a good girl for my two guards Beck and Ryker to take me home. But I’m not making Logan any more coffee or sandwiches until he apologizes.”
“Fair enough,” Hawk said.
* * *
By the time she arrived home after her call with Hawk, Gabriella felt bad about making fun of her new guards. Turned out Beck and Ryker were nice, big teddy bears, albeit teddy bears packing heat in holsters strapped to their sides, visible under their suit jackets when they moved.
She hadn’t even had to ask to see their IDs. They’d offered them up without a word as soon as Muriel showed them into her office.
She’d gotten into a black Range Rover with tinted windows driven by Beck, a man with hair and a beard the color of a new penny, while Ryker, a blond with the bone structure of a Nordic god, followed them in her car.
They were both huge of course. Apparently being a giant was a prerequisite for employment with Imperium.
Beck walked her to the door and both men got back in the Range Rover. She set the alarm and peeked out the window to see if they were going to leave, but the car remained in her driveway.
She exhaled her relief and went upstairs to change, glad Leo was still at kindergarten. He’d be home soon, but the quiet was just what her jangled nerves needed after the incident in the parking garage.
Bea was probably doing the grocery shopping or running some other errand.
She had a flash of the man in the garage pressed against her body and shivered, then hurriedly stripped off her clothes while the shower got hot. She wanted to wash the experience from her skin, and she sudsed her hair and body twice before she felt truly clean.
When she got out of the shower she changed into soft lounge pants and a cashmere sweater that she would usually consider too warm for May. She was coming down the stairs when her phone buzzed with a text from Logan.
I’m outside. Didn’t want to startle you. Can we talk?
She paused at the bottom of the stairs, remembering her conversation with Hawk.
He didn’t trust anyone else with you.
Okay.
A soft knock sounded at her door a minute later. She looked through the peephole just to be safe, then turned off the alarm and opened the door.
“Before you say anything, I checked to make sure it was you,” she said.
“I wasn’t going to say anything about that.” His face was unreadable and she had to force herself not to soften at the weariness in his eyes.
She looked up at the afternoon sky, darkening with a coming storm, and opened the door wider. “Looks like rain. Want to come in?”
He nodded and stepped through the door.
“Let’s go to the kitchen.” She felt his presence behind her, hated that she felt calmer with him at her back. “Can I get you anything? Coffee? Tea? Water?”
